The summer meeting is going ahead on June 30, but we’re changing the format from in-person to a virtual meeting. Again this year we will have a combined meeting with the vegetable growers and farm marketers. We will be hosted by Beasley’s Orchard, Danville IN. Beasley’s management consists of a vibrant young team comprising Calvin Beasley on the horticulture side and Jim Finley on the marketing side. They are trying many new approaches so I think it will be interesting for growers to see.
An online field day? How is that going to work? Well that is a very good question. Here’s the approach. We’ll record some videos with the Beasley’s team and make these available to growers ahead of time. These will consist of interviews and a tour of the farm. Then on the day of the field day, June 30, we’ll have a video conference, using something like Zoom, where growers can hear more from the Beasley’s and various Purdue specialists. There will also be an opportunity for growers to interact with each other. For those without computers with sufficiently fast internet speeds, a phone call-in to the meeting will also be possible.
Obviously this COVID-19 world is a very different world from last year, but given the limitations, we’ll do the best we can to provide a forum and learning opportunity for growers.